Some characteristics of Trionychidae: Softshell turtles are flat and their shell is soft and leathery. They are aquatic and often burry themselves into the mud in shallow water with the long neck extended so that their snoutlike proboscis can reach the surface for air.
This family contains 14 genera and approximately 25 species. They occur in: North America; sub-Sahara Africa and Nile Valley to the Middle East; Mozambique and Tanzania; Pakistan to Japan and Southeast Asia.

Literature: Weisrock, D.W. and F.J. Janzen. 2000. Comparative molecular phylogeography of North American softshell turtles (Apalone): Implications for regional and wide-scale historical evolutionary forces. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 14(1):152-164.

Species in brown font were observed in the ACE Basin during a herpetofauna survey in 2002- species in red font are presumed to occur there based on their over

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Lizards